UNDERAGED marriages in Kelantan are being too easily approved by the shariah court there, making the problem widespread, said Amanah Kelantan women’s wing chief Dr Hafidzah Mustakim.

The wing, Angkatan Wanita Amanah Kelantan (Awan), supports raising the minimum marriageable age for girls from 16 to 18, as the previous Pakatan Harapan federal government had attempted to do nationwide.

PAS-ruled Kelantan, however, is one of the states that have refused to standardise the marriageable age at 18 for both boys and girls. Its state Islamic laws set the marriageable age for Muslim girls at 16 and boys at 18, but with a caveat that the shariah court can approve marriage for those even younger than that.

The doctor said her concerns about underaged marriages stem from her personal experience in treating pregnant teenage girls as well counselling married youngsters dealing with stress as a result of marrying young.

“I doubt our system (letting the shariah court decide on underaged marriages) is successful.

“In my experience, underage marriages are easily approved without going through proper procedures,” Dr Hafidzah told The Malaysian Insight.

She said approval was easy to obtain as marriage is seen as an easy solution for pregnant teenage girls.

The problem is compounded when underage marriages are approved without counselling and guidance.

Dr Hafidzah told of how Awan’s public services unit helped a 16-year-old student who had been married for only one week.

The girl was eight months pregnant and was married to a man in his early 20s who did not have a job.

“Medical costs had to be borne by their parents who also could not afford it because they were poor,” she said.

Kelantan’s chief minister, Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, has said that underage marriage should not be banned because it is allowed in Islam.

From 2001 to 2017, a total of 2,226 underage marriage applications were approved in Kelantan.

In 2018, Kelantan was also the state with the highest number of underage marriages involving 135 cases.

Dr Hafidzah said Amanah is disappointed with the federal government’s failure to address social problems in Kelantan even though the deputy minister in charge of women and children’s welfare, Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, is a PAS member from Kelantan.

Dr Hafidzah said awareness about how underaged marriage harms children is lacking. Also lacking is addressing the problem from the perspective of teenage boys, leaving girls the ones who are often blamed and shamed.

All teenagers should be allowed to grow up and reach their true potential through education, she added. On the other hand, getting married when one is not ready will only stifle their potential and will result in an endless cycle of violence.

Also lacking are efforts to address poverty as a factor for child marriages.

Dr Hafidzah highlighted the case that drew public outcry in 2018 of 40-year-old rubber tapper, Che Abdul Karim Che Ahmad, who married an 11-year-old girl in Sungai Golok, southern Thailand.

The girl’s family said they agreed to marry their daughter to an older man, who already had a wife, due to poverty.

Dr Hafidzah said Awan in Kelantan was working with other civil society groups to press the state government on raising the age of marriage for girls to 18.

Awan also takes the position that every underage couple who obtains shariah court clearance to get married must receive counseling and guidance. – June 9, 2022.